The Labor Market Balance Act (the "WAB") is currently before the Senate. The plenary debate will take place on May 20 and 21. It therefore seems increasingly likely that the WAB will actually be passed. The law will then enter into force on January 1, 2020. We will update you further on this during our seminar on October 10, 2019, but some parts of the WAB should already have your attention now.
Changes to on-call agreement: longer notice period
For example, the WAB is going to have major consequences for the on-call contract (the zero-hours contract, the min-max contract and the temporary employment contract where the obligation to continue to pay wages is excluded). Among other things, the law is going to stipulate the following:
- The employee may not be required by the employer to obey the call to work unless the employer gives the employee at least four days' notice of the times when the work is to be performed.
- If the employer subsequently changes or withdraws part of the call to work within four days before the start of the work, the employee shall be entitled to the wages to which he would have been entitled if he had performed the work in accordance with the call.
Thus, it may be less easy to call employees shortly before the work to be performed.
Changes to on-call contract: offer of work scope
Another important change is the obligation to make an offer for the scope of employment. If there is an on-call contract, the employer is obliged to make an offer for a fixed scope of work within one month after the end of those twelve months, in writing or electronically (via e-mail) each time the employment contract has lasted twelve months. The scope of work must be at least equal to the average scope of work in that preceding twelve-month period. The deadline for acceptance of the offer shall be at least one month. For the purpose of calculating the 12-month period, employment contracts that have succeeded each other at intervals not exceeding six months shall be added together.
Thus, under this change, employers are required to offer employees with on-call contracts that have already been in place for at least 12 months a fixed scope of work starting January 1, 2020. That scope of work must correspond to the average number of hours the employee worked in the 12 months prior to the offer. If the employer does not make this offer, a wage claim arises by operation of law for the employee, which he can still collect for up to five years after it arises.
To prevent employers from having to make such an offer, employers can, for example, terminate on-call agreements (or have them terminated) before Jan. 1, 2020, or reduce the number of hours an employee is currently assigned.
In any case, it looks like employers who use on-call contracts will lose a lot of flexibility after the WAB takes effect.
Questions?
Do you have questions about this or want more tips? If so, please contact one of our specialists. You can also already register for our seminar 'Labor law under construction' via this link.
